Earlier this year I got to visit the New Glarus brewery.  I’ve stated this before and my mind has not changed that this is the most beautiful brewery I’ve ever been to.  From the view on the hill, to the cleanness of the inside and the beautiful outside of the brewery, there isn’t anything that comes close.  While there I picked up some of their Unplugged beers as well as some others.  While we were there we opened up the two beers below but since I was mixing a ton of different beers I didn’t feel like I could review them until I sat down one on one and enjoyed them again.

First up is their take on an English Porter.  Now a lot of us when we think of a porter, we think of a beer that is close to a stout.  Porters most of the time have some coffee or chocolate characteristics.  But New Glarus went back to the old times and made a type of porter I have never really experienced before and it seems a lot of people hadn’t either.  When I went into the New Glarus store to pick up a bottle of this stuff there was a sign.  The sign went something like this

“There is nothing wrong with this beer.  It was supposed to taste like this”

You see, this porter or style of this porter is actually quite sour.  People bought a bottle or two and were bringing the stuff back saying it was bad when actually it was not.  Back in the old days, porters were made like this.  If I didn’t read the sign or talk to the young lady behind the counter, I might of thought the same thing.  So how is this porter?

This beer pours a mahogany brown color with a one finger tan head.  Nice lacing throughout the glass. 

The smell on this one is woody up front with toasted malt, chocolate, toffee, and some sourness.  Like sour fruit.

The sourness really kicks in a lot more with the taste.  It’s the first thing you’ll notice.  Not as sour as say a real sour ale but it’s got a bit of a vinegar like quality with some sour cherries.  The ingredients I’m used to in a porter start to come through mid palette.  Smokiness, toffee, chocolate, and some dark fruit.  It’s than all washed away by the sourness.  Definitely a different take of a porter, at least for me.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, rich, and creamy.  Goes down very easy.  The sourness doesn’t get in the way of the mouthfeel.

I love what these guys do with the Unplugged series.  They take some chances and most of the time it pans out.  Now on to the better of the two I’m reviewing.

Found: Straight from the brewery store!
Price: 2-3 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/
What the company says: Nothing on their site about this one
ABV%: 5.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery:New Glarus Stone Soup, New Glarus R&D Golden Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Dogfish Head Daily Wry
Rating: B+

Now here is a beer that I just couldn’t get enough of.  I wish I had more and more of this brew.  If you’ve had their Tart and Belgian Red brews you know they do awesome things with fruit.  This beer is no different.  While it might not be a full on stout (BA Classifies it as a Fruit/Vegetable beer) it didn’t matter to me.  The mixture of styles here is fantastic.

Cherry Stout pours a very dark brown.  It might look black in that glass but as you pour the brew you’ll notice it’s more of a brown color.  Very little head is poured and whatever is poured quickly dies.  No lacing is present. 

Like I said above, this is not really a stout.  It’s missing a lot of the stout characteristics you usually see.  No coffee, no roasted malt, etc.  It’s just straight on cherry up front.  It’s a sweet aroma.  You’ll also pick up the barrel characteristics  Oak and vanilla.  It’s lovely and something I could just sit there and smell for hours.

Taste is just as good.  With a lot of cherry beers, you might get a medicinal or cough syrup kind of taste.  Not here, it’s fresh, cherries.  They start out sweet but turn tart.  I also picked up something I didn’t pick up in the smell and that’s some chocolate.  Chocolate covered cherries anyone? Mixed in there with the oak and vanilla and you have something you just want to drink all night. 

Mouthfeel is a little lighter than you get from a traditional stout.  But it’s still smooth and goes down way to nice. 

This is such a lovely beer.  I really wish they would turn this into a seasonal or year round beer because I’d buy a ton of it.  A totally winner here.

Found: Straight from the brewery store!
Price: 2-3 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/
What the company says: Aged in Oak barrels to promote a spontaneous fermentation. Eight Wisconsin malted barleys combined with Wisconsin Montmorency Cherries for a complex and sublime taste experience.
ABV%: 6.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: New Glarus Cabin Fever, New Glarus Unplugged Cranbic Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Founders Cerise, Weyerbacher Raspberry Imperial Stout
Rating: A